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☆ Haiti: Machete-wielding militias battle gangs in Port-au-Prince as elites vie for power
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Caitlin Stephen Hu | David Culver | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Port-au-Prince, Haiti CNN —The wide road that passes in front of Haiti’s Toussaint Louverture International Airport has a post-apocalyptic stillness these days. But leaving the city isn’t an option this time; the airport, under siege by gangs, has been forced to close. Evelio Contreras/CNNPort-au-Prince’s gangs are still choking off the supply of food, fuel and water across the city. Gangs have long haunted the residents of Port-au-Prince, but their reach has dramatically expanded over recent years, covering 80% of the city today, according to UN estimates. Marie Suze Saint Charles in a hospital, Port-au-Prince March 17 Evelio Contreras/CNNThe proliferation of police, gang and civilian checkpoints meanwhile is fracturing Haiti’s capital into wary and anxious fiefdoms.

Persons: Haiti’s Toussaint, Ariel Henry, Evelio Contreras, ”, Marie Maurice, they’ve, Maurice, Prince, –, Marie Suze Saint Charles, Marie, Suze Saint Charles Organizations: Haiti CNN, National Penitentiary, CNN, Haiti’s National Police, Transnational, Refugees, Argentine, Armored, International Organization for Migration Locations: Prince, Haiti, Port, Haitian, Canapé, Swiss, Argentine Bellegarde, ”

☆ Haiti Human Rights Group Suspends Operations After Threats
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Nov. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

(Reuters) - Haiti's Center for Human Rights Analysis and Research (CARDH) is provisionally suspending its work due to imminent danger to its staff, its executive director said on Thursday, as gang wars escalate in parts of the capital Port-au-Prince. The United States and Canada have sanctioned several politicians and businessmen accused of helping finance gangs. CARDH has published reports on the living conditions of people displaced by the gang wars, suspected gang members being lynched by vigilante "Bwa Kale" groups, killings of police officers and assessments of foreign sanctions. It has also quantified the rise of what it calls a kidnapping "industry" under which gangs use extreme violence and torture to extract ransoms from families. (Reporting by Sarah Morland in Mexico City and Harold Isaac in Port-au-Prince; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

Persons: Prince, Gedeon Jean, Jean, CARDH, Sarah Morland, Harold Isaac, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Reuters, Haiti's, for Human, Cite Soleil, United Nations, West Department Locations: Haiti, United States, Canada, Artibonite, Mexico City, Port

PORT-AU-RPINCE, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Haitian gangs run schools, clinics and foundations in place of an increasingly absent government, even as their criminal rackets help gang leaders amass funds and afford luxury homes with swimming pools in the hemisphere's poorest country. That was one of the findings of a comprehensive United Nations report published on Wednesday. "Gangs are getting stronger, richer, better armed and more autonomous," according to a 156-page report from a U.N. experts panel. The report concluded that gangs frequently use rape to terrorize and extort victims, demand money and control food supplies. The Caribbean nation's gangs have significantly expanded their influence in recent years, driving mass-migration and internal displacements while plunging millions into severe hunger.

Persons: They're, Bwa Kale, Harold Isaac, Sarah Morland, David Alire Garcia, Sandra Maler Organizations: PORT, United Nations, coalescing, Thomson Locations: United States, Caribbean, Port, Mexico City

☆ At least 7 killed after Haiti gang opens fire on church-led protest -rights group
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Aug 26 (Reuters) - At least seven people were killed in Haiti on Saturday, local rights group CARDH said, after a gang that controls a northern suburb of the capital Port-au-Prince opened fire with machine guns on a protest organized by a Christian church leader. Local media reported at least 10 had been killed, and CARDH director Gedeon Jean said the final number would likely be higher, adding that several people were wounded and some churchgoers had been kidnapped. Videos shared on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, showed some 100 people, many wearing yellow shirts associated with the religious group of Pastor Marco, marching in the suburb Canaan, some carrying sticks and machetes. Many Haitians have joined civilian self-defense groups known as "Bwa Kale," a movement that has inspired hope but also sparked retaliation against civilians and stirred fears the groups are spurring on the violence. Reporting by Harold Isaac and Ralph Tedy Erol in Port-au-Prince and Sarah Morland in Mexico City; Editing by William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: CARDH, Prince, Gedeon Jean, Pastor Marco, Kale, Harold Isaac, Ralph Tedy Erol, Sarah Morland, William Mallard Organizations: PORT, Local, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Haiti, Canaan, Port, Mexico City

☆ Gang in Haiti opened fire on church-led protest, killing at least 7 people, human rights groups say
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-27 | by ( Michelle Velez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —At least seven people are dead after a gang opened fire on a church-led protest in a suburb of Haiti’s capital on Saturday, according to local human rights groups. Hundreds of people gathered by a Christian church leader, marched in Canaan, a northern suburb of capital Port-au-Prince, and rallied against gang violence when a local gang opened fire with machine guns, Marie Yolène Gilles, director of human rights group Fondasyon Je Klere, told CNN. The number of people killed is likely higher, given the number of parishioners at the march, said Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights director Gédéon Jean. A video shared with CNN by a local human rights group shows bloody bodies on the ground, wearing shirts with the religious group’s logo. Gang violence in HaitiWaves of crime and unrest have hit Haiti since the assassination of former President Jovenel Moïse in 2021.

Persons: Marie Yolène Gilles, Gédéon Jean, ” Jean, Jean, Jovenel Moïse, Ariel Henry, Prince, Kale ”, María Isabel Salvador Organizations: CNN, Analysis, Human, Haitian National Police, United Nations Locations: Haiti’s, Canaan, Port, Haiti

☆ Haitians shelter in sports center as fresh attacks displace nearly 9,000
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( Jean Loobentz Cesar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A man carries an elderly man as they flee their neighbourhood Carrefour Feuilles after gangs took over, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti August 15, 2023. Residents began moving out of the area en masse from Aug. 12, when armed gangs mounted their attacks on the area. Ariel Henry, Haiti's unelected prime minister, called for urgent international security assistance last October. "Even if this foreign force comes, when it leaves we will be in the same situation," said Youseline. Reporting by Jean Loobentz Cesar in Port-au-Prince and Sarah Morland in Mexico City; Editing by Andrea RicciOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Ralph Tedy Erol, Ariel Henry, Henry, Orisca Marie Youseline, Kale, Feuilles, Gedeon Jean, Tropical Storm Franklin, Jean, Jean Loobentz Cesar, Sarah Morland, Andrea Ricci Organizations: Carrefour, REUTERS, Residents, Security, Gymnasium Vincent, Embassy, Lycee Carrefour, Tropical, Monde, Thomson Locations: Carrefour Feuilles, Port, Prince, Haiti, Carrefour, Mexico City

A man carries an elderly man as they flee their neighbourhood Carrefour Feuilles after gangs took over, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti August 15, 2023. REUTERS/Ralph Tedy Erol/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsAug 18 (Reuters) - The United Nations on Friday estimated that more than 350 people have been killed in Haiti by civilian vigilante groups since April, amid escalating gang violence that has in recent days has forced thousands to flee in parts of the capital. The report comes after fighting intensified late last week around the capital's heavily populated Carrefour Feuilles neighborhood, where attacks from the Grand Ravine gang prompted around 5,000 people to flee their homes. "We used to see clashes between gangs, now it's gangs against the population," said Serge Dalexis, the head of the International Rescue Committee's Haiti office. Reporting by Isabel Woodford and Sarah Morland; Editing by Mark Potter and Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Ralph Tedy Erol, Kale, Human Rights Ravina Shamdasani, Serge Dalexis, Prince, Dalexis, Shamdasani, Isabel Woodford, Sarah Morland, Mark Potter, Sandra Maler Organizations: Carrefour, REUTERS, United Nations, Human Rights, Carrefour Feuilles, Food, Thomson Locations: Carrefour Feuilles, Port, Prince, Haiti, Haiti's, Kenya

☆ Haiti: Gang violence is tearing the country apart. Here's what to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Caitlin Hu | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Waves of crime and unrest have hit Haiti since the assassination of former President Jovenel Moise in 2021. His successor, Prime Minister Ariel Henry, has struggled to staunch the violence, which is also a major impediment to holding crucial long-delayed elections in the country. For months, Henry and the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres have called for a military intervention in the country. The mission, if eventually approved by the UN Security Council, is hoped to “restore normalcy” to Haiti, Mutua said. The Bwa Kale movement successfully deterred some gang activity, according to Haitian monitoring group CARDH, with kidnappings slowing in early summer.

Persons: Jovenel Moise, Ariel Henry, Henry, General Antonio Guterres, Alfred Mutua, ”, Mutua, Prince, Kale ”, Maria Isabel Salvador, Flavia Maurello, Ralph Tedy Erol, Kale, –, Alix Dorsainvil, Dorsainvil, “, Alix, Gedeon Jean, Dorsainvil’s, Jean Organizations: CNN, United Nations, Twitter, Kenyan, UN Security Council, US, Catholic, Borders, US State Department, El Locations: Haiti, Kenya, ”, Port, Haitian, Les, Prince, Tabarre, El Roi Haiti

☆ Vigilante Justice Rises in Haiti and Crime Plummets
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( Frances Robles | Andre Paultre | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The 14 presumed gang members under arrest were arriving at a police station in Haiti’s capital, when a group of people overpowered the police, rounded up the suspects outside and used gasoline to burn them alive. The gruesome executions on April 24 marked the start of a brutal vigilante campaign to reclaim the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince, from gangs that have inflicted terror on Haitians for nearly two years. In a nation wracked by extreme poverty and violence, civilians have taken up arms and killed at least 160 people believed to be gang members in the six weeks since a citizens “self-defense” movement known as “bwa kale” kicked off its vigilantism with the brazen police station attack, according to data gathered in a new report by a prominent Haitian human rights group. The result: a sharp drop in kidnappings and killings attributed to gangs in neighborhoods where people told The New York Times they had been afraid to leave their homes.

Persons: ” Organizations: New York Times Locations: Port

☆ Haiti's deadly vigilante movement sees decline in gang violence, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The situation in the Caribbean country remains extremely volatile as heavily armed gangs continue to drive a humanitarian crisis that has displaced tens of thousands amid frequent kidnappings for ransom, gang rapes, tortures and murders. The vigilante movement, known as "Bwa Kale", began after residents of the capital Port-au-Prince lynched and set fire to over a dozen suspected gang members in the early morning of April 24. "Without making a value judgment, the 'Bwa Kale' movement has in just one month produced convincing, visible results; fear has changed sides," CARDH said in the report. Port-au-Prince, which CARDH estimates is now 60% controlled by armed gangs, sits in Haiti's Ouest Department where most of vigilante killings that it recorded - including lynchings, stonings, beatings and burnings - took place. Bwa Kale, CARDH said, likely emerged from the extreme cruelty inflicted by gangs, the ineffectiveness of the government, police and army and lack of international action.

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